


Like Coming Home

by Erandri



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, Character Development, Coming Out, Developing Relationship, F/M, Introspection, M/M, Patrick is not a put together as you would believe, Patrick's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-15 15:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18672241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: Patrick knows that he likes guys, he's just never put it in so many words.Or, the five times Patrick almost comes out and the one time he does.





	Like Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this fic entirely on that one scene in The Affair where Patrick says he picked out the frame for David's license. Yeah, we all know that's not what he was planning to say.

**1.**

They’re fighting. Again. Patrick had hoped that the engagement would smooth things over for a little while longer than it had, but a diamond ring can’t make up for the fact that he doesn’t love the person wearing it. Well, that’s not entirely correct. He  _ does _ love Rachel. He has for years, pretty much ever since they first started dating in high school so many years ago now. He loves her, but he’s realizing that he’s not  _ in _ love with her, and that’s why they’re fighting.

“I just don’t know why you can’t settle on a date!” Rachel huffs, aggressively putting away their leftovers. She does this when they fight but she doesn’t want to admit that they’re fighting. It’s like she thinks if she keeps her voice from rising it doesn’t count as a real fight, but her anger gets put into other things she does.

“It’s just complicated,” he tells her, too worn out from a long day of work to want to get into another argument with her. They’ve been happening more often as their engagement has dragged on with no prospect of a wedding in sight. He’s been getting increasingly pointed questions from his parents, and he knows that Rachels family has been nagging at her for them to finally settle down. It seems like everyone they know is sick of the will-they-won’t-they dynamic of their relationship and as much as Patrick would like to end the cycle, the thought of setting a wedding date, of making their marriage final, makes him feel like he’s being swallowed up.

He leaves the kitchen for their bedroom, wanting to take off his tie and button down, just trying to get comfortable and maybe leave this conversation behind, but Rachel follows him down the hallway. “Why is it complicated!” she yells at his back, apparently giving up the pretense that they’re not fighting, “I have already compared yours, mine, and our parent’s calendars. The hard work is done, all you have to do is pick a weekend!”

“Rachel, I don’t want to do this right now,” he tells her, pulling his tie off with more force than is strictly necessary. It’s just that he’s tired from picking up extra hours to get more money for the wedding and they’ve had this fight so many times already. Rachel has a dozen possible dates circled on the calendar, ready for his input, but every time he attempts to pick one he freezes. The constant twisting in his stomach gets so bad that he feels like he may actually be sick and it doesn’t lessen until he finds another excuse to put it off.

“Why not Patrick!” she yells, she’s honestly mad now. He can see it in the way her cheeks are tinged with pink. He used to think that it was a cute reaction; when they would fight over dumb stuff like whether the Canucks or the Maple Leaves were the better hockey team he would prolong the argument just to see her get so riled up. Now it just makes him tired. “Why can you not just pick a date! You asked me to marry you and that involves a wedding with a date!”

“Rachel, not right now,” he says forcefully, throwing his button up into the hamper. He just wants a break. He’s tired, he’s been running around the office for a week trying to get his paperwork done before the deadlines, and the last thing he wants to do is deal with all their problems.

“Well too bad! I don’t understand why you can’t just pick a fucking date!”

_ Because I’m gay! _ He almost yells, clenching down on his jaw so hard to keep the words from spilling out that his teeth hurt. It’s not a new thought, but until now it’s been something that he’s shoved into the back of his mind, something he’s always been aware of on the periphery of his mind but has left there untouched. He shoves it back down, worried by how forceful the thought had been but knowing that right now isn’t the time to examine it.

Rachel is still staring at him, hands on her hips, expecting an answer.

He sits down on their bed, all his strength leaving him, “I don’t know if I can,” he whispers, ashamed. He wants this to work out, he doesn’t want to break up again, but he knows that this thing they have together is wrong. He knows that they fight more than any healthy couple should. He knows that most couples don’t break up and get back together eight times, more if he counted all the little times one of them walked out only to come back apologizing a little while later. And he knows that most guys propose because they want to, not just because it feels like an inevitability.

Rachel is silent beside him and he knows that if he looks at her she’ll be crying. He knows from experience that if he sees her crying he’ll comfort her, and apologize, and she’ll convince him to stay. Whisper that things will be better if they can just move past this one thing. They do get better, but it’s only ever a temporary fix.

He doesn’t look at her.

“I think I should leave,” he says, moving to the closet to get his bag. It’s sad how familiar the motion is. How many times has he packed up his things and gone to stay at someone else's house for the night? How many times has she kicked him out and told him not to come back until he figured out whatever he needed to figure out? How many times has he come crawling back to her?

He stops moving when he feels something hit his back. It doesn’t hurt, it barely brushes him before clattering to the hardwood floor and he doesn’t have to look to know that she’s just thrown her engagement ring at him.

“Don’t come back until you have a wedding date,” she says, her voice cold. He listens as she walks out of the room, slamming the door behind her. He fights the impulse to follow her out, apologize and try to make it up to her. The only thing that stops him is the thought of his little mental outburst earlier, and the conviction with which he had the thought.

_ Because I’m gay _ . Maybe it’s finally time to stop ignoring the idea.

 

**2.**

“I saw Rachel at the store today,” his mother says when their conversation hits a lull. He’s been living in Schitt’s Creek for almost a month now and has been wondering when Rachel would come up. His parents weren’t surprised when he knocked on their door that night six weeks ago, his bag in his hand, but he had seen the disappointment in their eyes. He couldn’t blame them, he was disappointed in himself, but his mother had just ushered him into the house and his dad had gotten him a beer and they all sat around not talking about. They had gotten good at not talking about his and Rachel’s relationship.

“How is she?” he asks because he knows that’s what he should say.

“She misses you,” his mom says, her voice suddenly quiet over the phone, “You haven’t stayed apart this long since college.”

“I know,” he tells her. It had been their third break up, the first two were over dumb high school drama and they had gotten back together within the week. The third had been their first real break up. Rachel was going to be a teacher and he was going to be a business major. They had both known it when they were applying but when they ended up accepted to different schools Rachel had gotten upset. Patrick had always assumed that they would go to different colleges, picking the best school for their major, but it wasn’t until he told Rachel he already accepted Ivey’s offer and she said she had gotten an acceptance packet from McGill that the reality sunk in. Rachel wanted to go to the same school so that they could stay together, Patrick had argued that it was stupid to turn down a perfectly good university just for their relationship. Which he quickly learned had been the wrong thing to say. They broke up and moved to their respective universities and didn’t speak to each other until the following summer when they ran into each other at a mutual friends party. A combination of homesickness, loneliness, and a lot of alcohol had led to them getting back together that night and when their second year began, Rachel transferred to a closer university.

“Honey, I’m worried about you,” his mom says, interrupting his thoughts, “You and Rachel broke off the engagement, you quit your job and then moved to Schitt’s Creek of all places?” She pauses before she says Schitt’s Creek like it’s a bad word, it’s so like her that he wishes he was home with her. He wants her to hug him and tell him that everything’s going to work out all right, but he knows that if he had stayed home he would have gone back to Rachel by now. She’s already started texting him little nonsense texts that she then says were pocket texts. It’s a game they play each time they break up, one he pretends he doesn’t know they’re playing.

“I know mom, there are just some things that I need to sort out.”

“Like what?” she asks, so soft and encouraging that he almost tells her.

_ That I like guys. _ It’s on the tip of his tongue but he doesn’t say it, he can’t yet. He’s been thinking about it and he’s pretty sure that he’s gay, or at the least bisexual, but he feels like he can’t say it out loud until he knows for sure.

“Just some things,” he says, and then tries to change the subject, “How’s dad doing?”

“Oh you know him, he’s the same as ever,” she says obligingly, and then launches into how his father's work has been since the last time they talked.

 

**3.**

David Rose had not been what he expected. He’s not sure what exactly he had envisioned, but knowing what he did about the Rose family from working at Rose Video the majority of his formative years, the picture in his mind had been almost of a miniature of Johnny Rose. Someone with confidence, and poise. Someone who wore suits and could create a multi-million dollar business from nothing.

David is none of those things, though Patrick can see the family resemblance. David is flustered and talks in long, run-on sentences where he doesn’t actually seem to say anything, and underneath all that he seems so unsure about his business idea that Patrick wants to take him by the hand and tell him that everything's going to be alright. David describes his entire business plan without actually being able to tell Patrick anything about the business and he can’t help but feel a little swell of… something in his chest. He’s almost tempted to call it fondness.

Whatever the feeling is, there’s no denying that he’s charmed by David. He can’t say he’s ever had a real crush before, not in the tongue-tied, sweaty palm reaction that his friends used to talk about, but he could see himself getting enamored with David, given the chance. When he hands David his card it’s purely for professional reasons, he was hired to do a job after all, but he can’t help but hope that maybe David will use it for slightly more personal reasons too.

He has a couple of other meetings that afternoon so he silences his phone, and when he turns it back on at the end of the day he sees nine new voicemails, all from the same number. He wonders if it could be Rachel, trying to win him back, but dismisses the idea. It’s not her style to try and trick him into picking up the phone with an unknown number.

He sits down at his desk and plays the first message, pressing the phone to his ear just in time to hear  _ Hi David, it’s Patrick _ . Patrick feels his heart race as soon as he hears David’s voice, a flush spreading across his cheeks and down his chest. There’s a long pause before David speaks again, long enough for him to talk a breath and try to calm himself down. There’s no reason why just David’s voice should have that effect on him. David finishes the message with  _ ciao _ and Patrick has to press his lips together to keep from smiling.

The next message starts playing automatically and Patrick is met with  _ Hi  _ Patrick _. Yeah, I think I- I think I called you David which that’s not, that’s not your name. _ This time Patrick can’t help but smile, wondering if David’s always like this or if the nervousness is just because he’s calling Patrick. He’d like to think it’s because of him. When he gets to the fourth message he realizes that David is now talking about the store and that what he’s saying is actually useful information. He lets all the messages play before pulling out a new incorporation application, placing his phone on his desk and playing all the messages again on speaker so that he can write and listen.

“Okay, ciao,” David’s messages finish once again before the message system announces the time and date of the next voicemail.

“ _ Ciao _ , how international,” Ray says out of the blue, startling him. He had forgotten that Ray was puttering around the office still, “More people should say it, it’s delightful.  _ Ciao _ ,” Ray repeats as Patrick turns his attention back to the messages.

It takes him three more times listening to the voicemails to parse out David’s rambling and turn it into something that the government will approve of as an actual business plan. Then he listens to them all again just to hear Davids voice. Is it possible to fall in love with a voice? Patrick thinks it might be.

David comes back in at the end of the day, just before closing. He’s sheepish this time, his business form in his hands, written and scribbled on and crossed out. Patricks heart races when he sees him and not only because David snuck up on him. He thought that he had been exaggerating David in his mind, embellishing his memories, but he does look stunning.

“What?” David asks and he realizes that he’s been staring. He makes a quip about David making use of his business card to cover and then can’t help but tease David over the messages.

“You know, the good thing about the messages was that I was able to get enough information to fill out your forms,” he says, handing over the folder with copies of all the forms that David needs. He’s impressed by David’s business idea, it’s very inventive and something that Patrick really thinks could work in a community like this, but he can’t resist making one more little remark about the name of the store, enjoying the way David’s face scrunches up at him in annoyance.

“So I’ll call you when I hear something, and hey, if I don’t get ahold of you I’ll just  _ leave a message _ ,” he teases before David leaves, looking down as soon as the door closes behind him and realizing  _ he just flirted with a guy _ .

\---

Patrick’s just getting into bed when he hears his phone ping from where he has it charging. He rolls over to the other side of the bed, grabbing his phone to check it. He’s surprised to find David’s name on the screen with two new text messages.

 

**David Rose 10:18 pm**

_ So i realized that i never said thank you _

_ for filling out my papers today _

_ So… thank you _

 

Patrick smiles down at the screen, rereading the message before typing his response

 

**You 10:19 pm**

_ You’re welcome _

_ And i do like the name _

 

He sends the texts and then goes to write more, typing and retyping what he wants to say.

 

_ Do you want to get coffee sometime? _

 

_ You know i was flirting with you, right? _

 

_ I like you _

 

_ FYI i’m gay _

 

He deletes each message, feeling ridiculous. He’s barely known David a day, he can’t just say  _ hey I heard you were into guys, me too! _ He presses his forehead to the screen, knowing that David would have seen that he was typing another message so he has to say  _ something _ now.

 

**You 10:21 pm**

_ I’ll let you know when I get your license _

 

**David Rose 10:21 pm**

_ thanks.  _ _ Good night. _

 

Patrick smiles again, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks as he types goodnight back. It may just be him skewing things to his liking but this feels intimate, and he’d like to see where it goes. Putting his phone back down he resolves to try and spend more time with David however he can.

 

**4.**

Patrick has a crush. He’s pretty sure that he hasn’t had a crush on anyone since the sixth grade when he was assigned Alice McKinney as a science partner, but here he is. Standing at a craft store in Elmdale trying to pick out a frame for David’s business license, because of his giant crush.

He’s not even supposed to put the license in a frame. He’s supposed to check that the information is correct and deliver it to David, but he wants to get a frame for it. He wants this to be something special that he can do for David, something that will make David think of him when he sees it. Maybe he’s putting too much thought into it. It’s not like the store even has that many options. There are three wooden styles, a silver one, and a bright red one. He’s almost tempted to buy the red one just to see David’s reaction, but he wants this to be something that David will actually like.

“Can I help you, sir?” an employee asks him. She’s young, this is probably her first job, and she’s looking at him like he’s a weirdo she would rather not deal with. She’s probably not off on her assumptions, he has been staring at the same five frame options for  _ way _ too long.

“No, no I’m all set,” he says, grabbing the silver frame and taking it up to the register. David had been wearing those silver rings when they first met, and this reminds Patrick of them.

\---

David doesn’t like the frame. It’s too  _ corporate _ for his brand he says, and Patrick’s never been so grateful for a little white lie.  David never has to know that he picked out the frame special. When David and Alexis start to bicker about products he takes a moment to collect himself. His eye catches on some of the product that David has already set out, seeing his brand label for the first time. It looks almost hand drawn and it’s simple but very elegant.  _ Just pretentious enough _ he thinks to himself before realizing just how much product David actually has.

This he can do, feeling like he’s back on solid ground. He knows numbers and he knows business practices. He isn’t exactly expecting Alexis to add in her two cents as he tells David to be wary of overextending himself, but her advice is still sound.

“Well, what are the textbooks saying about curating a selection of products from local vendors and selling them on consignment in a one-stop-shop retail environment that benefits both the vendor and the customer,” David snaps back, clearly not impressed with them. Patrick recognizes the almost word-for-word phrasing that he put down on David's incorporation papers and smiles to himself, pleased that David is at least impressed with his business work.

He’s not sure how, but he somehow lets Alexis rope him into moving boxes around for them. He doesn’t mind, it gives him more time to be with David, despite the fact that Alexis keeps trying to flirt with him.

\---

That night he makes a plan. He’s been thinking about Davids business a lot and the more he thinks about it the more he sees what a great idea it is. He wants to be a part of it. He’s always wanted to be part of a business start-up and David has an idea he could really get behind, but it’s going to be hard the first couple of years. It’s an untested business model and from what he can tell David doesn’t have much experience running his own retail store. Thankfully, Patrick aced his business classes, and Ray had gotten a notice in the other day for some new government grants that David would be eligible to apply for.

He’s going to offer to apply for the grants on Davids behalf, as long as David lets him invest in the business and then he’s going to ask David out. Or at least tell David that he’s interested in him. He’s going to do  _ something _ , and he’s so nervous that he can barely sleep that night. There’s a twisting sensation in his stomach that he recognizes but unlike all the times he got it with Rachel, this is a good thing. This is anticipation. He wants to tell David that he’s gay. He wants to ask him out. It’s exciting… and a little terrifying.

When he stops by the store on his morning break he thankfully finds David alone as he attempts to set up the new cash register. David makes a remark about his business license getting revoked as a greeting and Patrick is quick to assure him that he’s not here for anything bad.

“My sister isn’t here, so...” David says next. He had been dreading that David would think he was interested in Alexis. He had tried to keep things strictly professional between the two of them yesterday but Alexis had been persistent. He hadn’t wanted to be rude to her so he let it go on more than he should have, trying to say without saying aloud that he wasn’t interested. He’s never been very good at turning down girls.

“I’m not here for your sister,” he says, hoping that David understands that he isn’t interested in her. At all. David’s mouth drops open and Patrick thinks that he does. He tells David about the grant opportunities, telling him that he can help apply for them, “Well, I wouldn’t be doing it for free,” he says, and David is speechless. “See, if the grants came through you’d have the money to start paying me.”

He can see David thinking it over and tries to talk David into it, thankfully it doesn’t take much to get David to say yes. Or at least agreeing to think about it. He’ll take it, not wanting to press his luck too much.

David turns back to the cash register pieces in his arms, trying to figure out how to get them to hook together, and he knows that this is it. He needs to tell David now.

“And in the interest of us potentially working together, I did want to come clean about something,” he says, starting to feel nervous. The twisting in his stomach from last night comes back with a vengeance and his heart is racing so fast he’s a little worried that David will be able to see it trying to beat its way out of his chest.

_ Just do it. Rip it off like a band-aid. ‘David, I’m interested in you’. That’s all you have to say. ‘I like you’. Three words. ‘I just found out that I am very gay and I’d like to go on a date with you’. Too much. Say something. Say  _ **_something_ ** .

David is watching him as he stands there, mouth open. He looks down, not able to do this while making eye contact and lets out a breath. “I um...” he starts and then the words catch in his throat. He looks up and there, like his own personal savior, he sees David’s business license hanging on the wall, still in the silver frame that he picked out.

“I actually picked out that frame.”

_ Coward _ , he admonishes himself.

David looks surprised for a second before saying, “I see, so thank you for making it very clear that I will be making the creative decisions for the store and I guess you can handle all the business stuff.”

“I’m very comfortable with that,” he agrees happily.

“And you do know that if the grant money doesn’t come through then-”

“Oh, I’m gonna get the money,” he promises before David can even finish the thought. He’s not going to let this opportunity pass him by.

 

**5.**

Patrick doesn’t know for sure, but he thinks that he just went from celebrating his and David’s four-month anniversary to getting broken up within the span of about five minutes. It breaks his heart when David says that he’s damaged goods, and he wants to stay and comfort David, but he respects his request for some time and goes to leave the room.

“Actually um,” David says and he turns around, hoping that David will ask him not to leave. That he’ll want them to talk it over hell, Patrick would even settle for a screaming, yelling, all-out fight if it meant he would get a little bit of a chance to explain and not have to leave David like this, “I haven’t had dinner yet, so...”

Patrick agrees to grab David some sliders, and sides, and he’ll grab a drink for good measure. He can hear the waver of emotions in Davids' voice when he asks for the food and he knows that he doesn’t sound much better. He closes the motel door behind him, moving to go back to the barbeque but stopping before he gets rounds the corner and everyone can see him.

He leans against the wall and lets himself feel bad for just a second. He should have been honest with David. He had his opportunity to tell David about Rachel, first when they spent the night at Stevie’s and then so many times since. He told David that he could trust him, but he’s been lying to David about Rachel the entire time they’ve known each other.

Gathering himself together he pushes off the wall and rounds the corner, wiping away his tears and putting on a brave face before he faces the Roses. Rachel is sitting in one of the lawn chairs, waiting for him and the Roses and Stevie are still sitting at the picnic table. They look like they haven’t moved since Alexis dropped the bombshell about Rachel and he figures that they’re not entirely sure what they should do in this situation. He’s not entirely sure himself but right now he’s only focused on getting David his dinner.

No one says anything as he makes a plate for David, piling it full with all the things that he knows David likes and then grabbing his abandoned glass of wine. He takes it back to the room, knocking softly on the door and waiting for David to let him in. The door cracks open and David sticks his hand out for the plate, he hands it over wondering if he should say anything or just let David process this on his own.

“Thank you,” David tells him, half hidden behind the door, and Patrick can hear that he’s been crying.

“David-” he starts, not entirely sure what he’s going to say, but David shuts the door on him before he can get anything else out. He lets his head rest against the door knowing that this day isn’t over yet, the Rose’s and Rachel are still out there waiting for him. He lifts his head just as they round the corner and Patrick stands there like a deer caught in headlights as they approach him. They each look at him with a combination of sorrow, and confusion, and possibly maybe even a little contempt as they pass by without a word.

Alexis stops in front of him as Johnny and Moira go into their room and Stevie continues on to the office. He looks up to meet her eye, bracing himself for whatever she’s going to say to him. “Rachel told me that you never responded to her texts. I’ll try to smooth things over with them,” she tells him, nodding her head to indicate her parents and possibly even Stevie.

“Thank you,” he tells her, hoping that she can calm everyone down until he has a chance to explain.

“She’s still waiting,” Alexis tells him, reaching past him to open the door to her and David’s room.

Rachel’s still sitting in the lawn chair when he rounds the corner again and sits down in the seat across from her. She’s still as pretty as he remembers and he realizes that he does still have feelings for her. But they’re the feelings of getting to see an old friend again, even if the circumstances aren’t ideal. Now that he knows what it really feels like to love someone, he wonders how he ever could have convinced himself that what he felt for Rachel was even in the same ballpark as what he should have been feeling. What he does feel for David.

“Who was that?”

“We need to talk.”

They speak at the same time and fall into silence. He runs his hands over his face, wiping away the tears he can still feel threatening to fall. “Please just, let me explain.” He says and Rachel sits back in the chair, willing to hear him out.

“I’m not coming back,” he says, knowing that they should have had this conversation months ago, “What we had wasn’t right, you know that it wasn’t. If it was it wouldn’t have been so hard to stay together and it’s not fair to either of us to keep trying.”

“I still love you,” Rachel says, not to try and win him back like she’s done in the past. It’s just a fact; she loves him.

“I know,” he says looking at her for the first time. There are tear tracks down her cheeks and instead of looking at him she’s looking down at her hands, “I moved out here to get some distance to try and figure out why I couldn’t make it work between us. Now I know that no matter how many times we fall back into it, I’ll never be able to love you the way that you deserve to be loved.”

“Is this because of that guy?” she asks, not harshly, she just wants to know what’s going on. He figures that she’s already pieced a lot of the story together.

“I don’t want to talk about David right now,” he tells her. It would be easy, and she would be getting the full story if he told her that he was gay. A part of him wants to and finally put this all to bed. But he can’t start talking about David now because if they did, if he tells her how much David means to him, he would break. And maybe he doesn’t want to say anything because he doesn’t know how she’ll take it.

The people of Schitt’s Creek have been so accepting of him and David that everything had almost been a non-issue. News travels fast in a small town and it seemed like, within a week of their first date, everyone knew that he and David were no longer just business partners. Not that they were trying all that hard to hide it, be he had no input himself. People just knew and he’s never had to actually come out to someone.

Rachel knew him before all this, before Schitt’s Creek and before he accepted that he likes men, and he’s scared what her reaction will be. He knows that Rachel isn’t homophobic, but he’s dreading her asking questions about it, about why he didn’t know sooner and why he let their relationship drag on so long. Plus, he’s scared that she could tell people back home.

If he asked her not to he’s pretty sure she would keep his secret, but he just can’t take that chance. Not right now with everything so messed up. He doesn’t want to go back home one day and have people look at him any differently. He doesn’t want his family to look at him any differently.

So he does the best thing he can at the moment. He apologizes to her, for everything, wraps his arm around her and lets her cry. She clings onto him and he knows with absolute certainty, for the first time in their relationship, that this will be the last time they have to go through this.

 

**+1.**

Patrick wakes the morning after his birthday with David wrapped around him, snoring softly into his chest. He leans down and presses a kiss to the top of David’s head, but he doesn’t stir so he leans back into the pillows knowing that he has time to just enjoy this before they have to get up.

Last night had gone better than he ever could have imagined, especially with the rocky start the day had had. When David told him that he had invited his parents to his surprise party, he couldn’t think. His parents still didn’t know that he was gay, and in a relationship, and David had been trying to be nice and surprise him because he thought that they had known about him.

It had all been a mess, one of his own making, but then David, his beautiful, wonderful boyfriend made everything okay. David had comforted him and gave him the courage to tell his parents about their relationship. Then he’d gone to smooth things over with Patrick's parents on his own to try and make things as easy as possible for him. He can’t imagine how nervous David must have been, meeting his parents under those circumstances, and knowing the way David can be in emotional situations.

But he did it. His parents know about David and they like him. It’s the best birthday present he could have gotten.

“Mmm is it time to get up?” David asks sleepily, pressing his face further into his chest.

“You’ve got a couple of minutes,” he says, looking at the clock. When David closes his eyes again he starts to run his fingers through David’s hair, smiling when David hums in pleasure. He continues until the alarm goes off, telling them that it’s time to get up. Normally, they would be able to sleep in a little longer, but this is the last day his parents are in town so they’re all going to get breakfast together before they have to open the store and his parents have to start the drive back home.

“I don’t know what to wear!” David yells to him a little while later. Patrick peeks his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth, to see David standing in front of their wardrobe, rifling through every sweater he has. Patrick spits and rinses his mouth before going to join him.

“It’s not that big a deal, they already like you no matter what you wear,” he tries to comfort David before he descends into a full panic.

“Um,  _ yes _ it is that big a deal,” David says, looking at him like  _ why don’t you get how important this is _ , “This is the first time I’m meeting your parents as your boyfriend and not doing damage control. I need to make a good impression.”

“Hey,” Patrick says, taking David’s hands to still them, “You already have made a good impression,” he says and David looks away and smiles. “But, if you’re that concerned about what to wear, you should wear this one.”

He reaches into the stack of sweaters and pulls one out of the middle. It’s black with a lightning bolt down the front and as soon as he hands it over he knows that David recognizes it as the sweater he wore on their first date.

“You’re kind of a sap, you know that?” David asks, but he pulls the sweater on over his head.

“I prefer to call it romantic,” he says, giving David a quick kiss before moving to get dressed. David disappears into the bathroom to finish his skin and hair routine and before he knows it, they’re on their way to Cafe Tropical.

As soon as they walk in the door, his mother is out of the booth giving him a hug. When she lets him go she pulls David down into a hug of his own. It’s a little comical, the shocked look on Davids' face as he hunches over to return the hug, but then Patrick sees him press his lips together to keep from smiling and he feels a wave of love wash over him.

He should have done this months ago. David should have been getting hugs and cards, and calls from his mother for weeks.

When his mom releases David they move to the booth where his father is waiting for them. He gives his dad a quick hug hello and David greets him with a handshake before they all sit down. There’s no awkward period. His parents have already been speaking to David on the phone since they opened the store and the casual conversation from that continues. His dad asks all about the store and the town, and his mom asks about their relationship and they spend the entire breakfast getting his parents caught up on everything. Patrick doesn’t miss the way that David seems to be glowing with pleasure under his parent's attention.

Too soon he looks at the clock and realizes that it’s almost time for them to get the store ready. “You stay here and keep talking, I’ll go open,” David tells him, sliding out of the booth. When he stands up he leans over and gives Patrick a kiss goodbye, just like he would under any other circumstances, and Patrick smiles into it, realizing that his parents knowing about his relationship hasn’t changed anything.

“You look happy,” his mother says as soon as David leaves.

“I am happy,” he tells them. He’s never been this happy in his entire life.

They fall into a comfortable silence before his dad glances over to his mom and asks, “So you’re gay? Or. David said that he was pansexual, is that what you are? And there’s bisexual too right?”

“We just want to know what the right term is,” his mother adds in before he can say anything.

“No, you’re right. I’m gay,” he tells them and realizes that this is the first time he’s ever said it out loud to someone. It feels good, like coming home.

His parents nod in understanding and then the conversation moves on to what the rest of the family is up to until it’s time for them to leave. He walks them around the corner to where their car is parked, knowing that he has one more thing that he needs to tell them before they leave.

“David seems like a fine young man,” his dad tells him as they stand by their car.

“Tell him that we give him our love,” his mom adds, and this is his segway.

“Yeah, there’s actually something else I need to tell you guys about David,” he says and takes a breath. His parents look at him expectantly and he says, “I'm going to ask him to marry me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](http://erandri.tumblr.com/)!


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